Spain Says No to Separatists

The murderous face of the ETA, the Basque Homeland and Freedom separatist group, looked squarely at rejection last weekend as Spaniards from Andalusia to Castile and into the Basque country itself denounced and mourned the assassination of Miguel Angel Blanco, a city councilman. The murder could be the straw that breaks the back of three decades of rebellion.

Since the ETA first took up arms, the victims have numbered in the hundreds--some soldiers, some police officers, but many innocents like Blanco. Never before has the whole Iberian peninsula risen to demand justice from the government and the swift capture and trials of those responsible for an ETA killing. In Madrid and other cities, millions stopped work and other activities to stand silent for 10 minutes. Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar and Crown Prince Felipe joined the mourners in Ermua, in the heart of Basque country, at the hometown funeral services for Blanco.

The ETA’s demand for independence is supported by about 20% of the people in the northern Basque region, a figure that indicates 80% want no part of either a separatist state or continued violence. But repudiation by their own people has yet to deter the separatists. Last week a commando squad kidnapped Blanco and threatened to kill him if the government did not transfer an estimated 450 jailed ETA gunmen to prisons in the Basque region. The government stood firm, and Blanco, 29, was shot twice in the head and dumped on a rural road. He died a few hours later.

This is the moment for Aznar’s government. He was elected to pull the Spanish economy back on track. He’s done a fair job of that. He was elected as an alternative to a liberal regime that had lost focus. Aznar has focus. But he must deal strongly with the Basque problem. Until it is under control he will not lead Spain and there will be more funerals for men like Miguel Angel Blanco.